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Var Speed Motors

Is anyone else concerned about customer backlash when some of these var speed motors and modules start going out. I had one the other day that was under warranty but would have cost an arm and a leg to replace, especially if it would have been on overtime...

Me personally no. Its not your fault the blower went out nor is it your fault the unit is out of warranty. Yea I feel bad and it does suck when a motor goes out after just a short time (ie. x-13 motors). Home owners think because you are the tech than its your fault mostly cause you are the one in front of them telling them that their unit is out of warranty. Manufacturers warranties are just that, not your companies warranty.

Almost all of ours are on some kind of extended warranty. Homeowners tend not to care if they aren't paying the bills. But if they are, look out.

That's what scares me about tankless WHs. Or Mod Con boilers. They are so pricey to begin with and are so complex, one repair in their lifetime chews up any gas savings. And people aren't used to maintenance on a WH and many don't maintain their old cast iron boilers. Can't get by with that on a 90% boiler.

Like a lot of the high efficiency stuff ...

The money saved for the sake of energy efficiency will be more than lost once a repair is needed. Not only the repair, but I am doubtful that some of this "high efficiency" equipment will last as long as the one that was replaced.

The question that I am asked quite frequently is, "Why is it that my new high efficiency heat pump cost more to operate than my 15 year old heat pump?" I don't have an answer for them.

I am starting to believe that all this SEER & HSPF is a bunch of hot air. If the long term or lifetime cost of the system is figured in, I am sure that the old 10 SEER system was a better deal.

Just my $.02.

But as far as an ECM motor replacement goes, you could put in a PSC replacement.

Can someone please explain to me -
Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time, but plenty of time to do it twice?

I had a customer I did a tune up on he had a xl19i he told me the condenser fan motor went out just before the warranty ended he told me if it wasn't under warranty they told him it would cost $XXXX to replace

The commutator heads are now available seperately from the motor. This is where i usually find the failures. They can typically be replaced without even removing the motor from the blower assembly. Also much cheaper than replacing thw whole motor.